Mrs Crimble's Cheese Bites

I just made a trip to our big Sainsburys to look at the new items in their Free-From range - more on that later.


While I was there I found these Mrs Crimble's Cheese Bites. They are heaven! Made with Edam Cheese but baked so they aren't ridiculously unhealthy, they are hollow cheesy pillows.

Absolutely delicious!

Choc Dip Replacement

As a child I *loved* KP Choc Dips. Remember them? Those little pots with biscuit sticks and some chocolate spread to dip them in.



Well I was at a loose end in Cardiff this morning and decided to have a look at the 'Free From' sections in a few local supermarkets. I love seeing the range of products different stores stock, especially as their gluten free ranges vary so much from area to area.

So I wandered into Asda at Cardiff Gate. To my surprise I found a little Tru Free tub with chocolate spread and breadsticks. The sticks are not as sweet as I remember the Choc Dip version being but the slight savoury-ness combined with the sweet, hazelnut flavoured chocolate spread was a brilliant combination.

Quite expensive at 99p a pot but totally worth it!

Out and About in Cardiff

I'm in Cardiff at the moment staying with Ina and his mum.

My current bank balance (or lack of it!) means I haven't been eating out much. However I found a nice big Marks and Spencer Food Hall on the outskirts, near their house where I was able to purchase my favourite Coconut and Lemon Macaroons! I also bought some of their Mango and Passion Fruit desserts which are a bit like Creme Caramel but fruity instead of the caramel flavours, and a Masala Chicken Salad, which I've got to say I wasn't too keen on, despite loving Indian food, but it was gluten free.

I also found a M&S version of Wotsits, which are gluten free. For some reason I can't seem to eat normal Wotsits, despite them being classed as "suitable for coeliacs". I know a few others who have said the same. But I seem to have been fine after the M&S ones so that's another thing to add to my M&S shopping list. I love that shop! (and most other shops! I just like shopping :P)

While looking for places that sold gluten free food in Cardiff I came across a place called "Canteen" on Clifton Street in Cardiff which appears to cater for us GF-ers. The review I found seems to suggest they sometimes have GF Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Not going to have chance to visit it during my brief stay here. Anyone been and had any experience of eating GF there? Let me know.

Revision Snacks

I am currently revising for my third year (of a Masters degree) University exams. As every good student knows revision snacks are an essential part of revision.

Having got through my Easter eggs and the vast amount of Milka I bought from France I went in search of new snacks.

My best friend and I have revised together for the last 4 years and each year we share a 1kg tub of Jelly Belly jelly beans. They last us for the 8 weeks or so we spend revising. Luckily they are gluten free so I can still eat them :D

This week I am in Reading visiting my boyfriend, who works down here. I didn't have much food to bring with me so yesterday I paid a visit to Waitrose. I found Riceworks gourmet brown rice chips on buy one get one free. They are THE BEST savoury gluten free snacks. I'm tucking into a bag of the sweet chilli flavour as we speak.

I also found Kelkin Mini Milk Chocolate covered Rice Cakes. These are a nice chocolatey treat without just being a chunk of chocolate and go really nicely with a cup of tea!

Well that's enough of a break for me! Back to the revision

New GF finds in Tesco

I paid a visit to our local Tesco this morning, to buy a birthday card and cake for my housemate, and as I was also procrastinating from revision, I decided to look round. I found four products that I hadn't seen before that were gluten free.

I had been informed by a fellow coeliac that Tesco Onion Bhajis had a new recipe and were now gluten free. While I was looking for them I found Tesco Simply Cook Swedish Style Meatballs which are GF. I then found the bhajis which were indeed GF.




I then went to pick up some tinned tuna and found tins of Tuna and Vegetable Salad and Tuna and Mixed Bean Salad. These looked perfect for mixing with cooked rice or pasta and making a salad for lunch.

Finally to the freezers where I found Tesco Crispy Potato and Mediterranean Vegetables along with a Crispy Potato, Bacon and Cheese. I couldn't believe these would be suitable for coeliacs but they are also GF.

So my procrastinating from revision turned out to not be completely wasting time!

Almondy Gluten Free Cheesecake

Almondy are a Swedish Company who make gluten free tarts and cheesecakes. I had heard good things about them so during a recent visit to Ikea I decided to buy some of their Daim Tart.

They have a very strange texture but I really like them. They are nice and sweet and a cross between cake and wafer!




When I was in Reading we visited Dunelm Mill at the Savacentre retail park. The cafe there had Almondy Tart as a gluten free option. It was out on a tray and fairly close to the other cakes but the staff knew to use separate servers and I was fine after it.

It seems the idea of having a gluten free option is finally spreading.

I love Waitrose!

Having recently been ill, I took a week off Uni to relax with my parents and grandparents. My grandparents live in a lovely little hamlet in the middle of the Berkshire Downs. As this was an impromptu visit I had little in the way of GF food to take with me. So the second day required a trip to Wallingford, to Waitrose.




I wandered around the shop picking up some basics - eggs, bananas, potatoes, etc. I then went to the bread section to find the Antoinette Savill Rolls. Beyond the bakery section was the cleaning section so I assumed this store did not have a specific Free From section. I was in for a shock!

There was half an aisle of gluten free food including several brands I had never seen before. I was so impressed and spoilt for choice. If only the Waitrose in Birmingham would follow suit. I think an email to the manager is needed.

So well done Waitrose!

Choosing Dry Pasta and Fresh GF Pasta Recipe

I used to hate gluten free pasta! I found it sticky and awful! I soon realised that rice pasta (for me) was a poor replacement. My mum bought me some Orgran Corn and Vegetable Pasta when I went to visit and I loved it. It was more tasty than wheat pasta and the texture was similar to that of 'normal' pasta.

I then discovered Sainsburys Free From Corn Pasta. Again the texture was less sticky and closer to what I was used to. I find this better for pasta bakes as it has a less distinctive flavour than the Orgran one.

So for me corn pasta was definitely the way forward!

I was then bought a pasta machine for Christmas last year. This enabled me to make fresh pasta with eggs and also opened up the possibilities of making filled pasta. (like ravioli.) I used the recipe from my pasta machine with an extra egg and a mix of cornflour and Doves Farm GF plain flour. I later added the Xanthan Gum as the first batch was too crumbly to put through the machine.


(This was the first successful pasta I made with my machine, drying)

Fresh GF Pasta

350g Plain GF Flour
150g Cornflour
1 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
4-5 eggs
2 tablespoons of oil

1. Mix the flours together in a big bowl
2. Add Xanthan Gum
   
3. Beat 3 of the eggs in with the oil
4. Add the liquid to the flour bit by bit, mixing in between
5. Add more egg as required to make the mixture come together into a ball of dough
6. Wrap dough in cling film and place in fridge for 30 mins
7. Remove cling film and split dough into 8 similar size pieces
8. Take a piece at a time and follow the pasta maker instructions to make pasta shapes of your choice!
   

You can freeze this as dough or as pre-made pasta shaped as long as you use it within a month of freezing.

Splitting the mixture into 8 should make it manageable sized to put it through the pasta maker - it stretches a lot during the process and can get quite difficult to handle if the pieces are too big.

Just a word of warning - making pasta this way is reasonably time consuming as each section is put through the machine up to 10 times to get the desired thickness and shape.

This pasta can be kept in a sealed tub in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Cook it by placing in a pan of boiling water for 2-3 mins. Spaghetti shaped pieces also make a good replacement for egg noodles with oriental meals.

Try making filled pasta parcels by leaving the stretched pasta as long strips (like lasagne) and cutting into squares. In the past I have made mixes of mascapone and cooked spinach (gorgeous) and soft cheese, salami and smoked ham. Seal them with any left over egg. These need cooking for a bit longer to ensure the filling is heated through.

Wing Yip Supermarket, Birmingham

I decide to have a few friends round for a meal on New Year's Eve for food. As students, such a gathering usually involves a phone call to the local takeaway. However we decided on Chinese and I knew I'd feel bad enough on New Year's Day from the alcohol without risking food contamination!

So I decided to cook. I went to the local Chinese supermarket, Wing Yip in Nechells, Birmingham.

When I first went in a was a bit disillusioned. You enter at the sauces section and after reading the ingredients of a few jars it became apparent that there was not much in that section I could eat. But I persevered and soon found some sweet chilli dipping sauce and fish sauce flavouring that were GF (and surprisingly cheap.) Further round I found rice paper cases for making spring rolls, or to serve with crispy duck, tapioca flour and vermicelli noodles made from peas, corn starch and green beans.



I was temporarily distracted by the alcohol section (!) where I bought some Sake - rice based spirit as seen at Wagamamas etc.

Further round I found coconut milk and a Singapore curry sauce that were both GF.

But the visit for me had two gems. The first was Hutu porridge which is corn based and seems really easy to make (haven't tried it yet - will report back when I have.) The second was a confectionery product. It was flaky rice pastry filled with red bean paste and topped with sesame seeds. There were 4 in the pack and they were slightly sweet. I really like them. In fact I'm off to test some recipes for Chinese rice pastry. I'll let you know when I find a good one.

So a visit to your local Chinese supermarket is very much recommended.

Oh and my bill came to £13 which included the sake, some chopsticks and some vegetarian soy bean starters as well as the other things I have mentioned. Not a bad deal!